The Agrarian's Alcove

Good morning Agrarians!! Happy Earth Day ! Hopefully you are out celebrating with fun Earth Day crafts and free activities! I always loved Earth Day activities as a kid. So when I started hearing about the activities this year, I wondered how this all got started. It’s a huge event that happens each year, and is celebrated in more than 190 countries! More than one billion people celebrate Earth Day. If we go back to the very first Earth Day, in April 1970 we see lots of protesters with their signs held high. The 70’s were a time of great protests. If you look at pictures of the first earth day, you will see children wearing shirts that say “Let me grow up!”, large handmade signs with snappy slogans, and people doing generally weird things...like walking around in gas masks. So obviously this was a classic grassroots protest. If you think our world is dirty now, you should have seen it before Earth Day. Rivers were LITERALLY catching fire when someone tossed a cigarette into them...

It’s that time of year: Christmas trees, candy canes, bright lights. Christmas tree farmers work hard all year long to produce the most beautiful trees. It’s an unusual kind of agriculture compared to what we see on a daily basis. For instance, you can’t find Christmas tree farms all over the world. It is a very western tradition. Let’s look at some fun facts involving this special type of ag! You can find Christmas tree farms in North America, the UK, and Australia Christmas trees are often exported to China, Japan, the Phillipines, and Mexico Live Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since the 1850’s! There is a National Christmas Tree Association that, along with the USDA keeps records of Christmas tree sales, production, and recycling President Theodore Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental reasons Speaking of environment...are Christmas trees really bad for the environment? For those of you who are concerned (an...

Monday, August 14, 2017 6:58 PM Lately, I have been really kicking myself for the amount of food I have let go bad. I know there ways to avoid it; I know the impact it has on our environment. I also know that we are really blessed in America to have access to and availability of all this food, and yet I am taking it for granted.  I'm sure you have all heard that you can freeze almost anything, so that it doesn't go to waste. This usually is the first thing I see when I read about "how to make food last longer", or "how to save money on groceries." Today I'm going to discuss 5 ways to prevent food waste, that aren't just about using your freezer.     "Repurpose" bread, and other food We all think about upcycling and reusing material items, but how often do you think about using your food that is about to go bad in a different way than normal? When I was a kid, we would wait until we had a couple of heels of bread, or any...